The Real Persian Music

We had the chance to listen to three live musicians and, on our long bus rides, to watch a video of the Rastak Group which specializes in Persian folk music. I thought they were brilliant. If you want to listen to them, here is the link to one of my favorite songs, the Azuri Gal Gal youtube.

A fellow was playing the tar as we ate our very first dinner in Tehran. I’m afraid that given our jet lag and the first venture into Persian food for many, we didn’t pay as much attention to him as we would have later in the trip.

We visited Moslem Mirzazadeh in his shop in Yazd where he makes beautiful traditional instruments. He played both the tar and in this photo the settar for us.

In Esfahan at the Hasht Behesht Palace, we listened to a fellow who is doing a project he calls Music in the Palaces. He comes there every morning at 8:30am to play the tar for an hour. Reza, our incredible Iranian guide, importuned him to stay a bit longer to play for us.